HomeMy WebLinkAbout07-07-1976Wednesday, July 7, 1976 7:30 p.m. pg.l
The first regular Town Board meeting of the month was held at the
town hall, 15 Terrace Rd. with Supervisor, Robert P. Blatchley presiding.
Other Town Board members present were: Justices, Donald Eaton and Ronald
Fish; and Councilman Ray Miller. Councilman Sherman Griswold was absent
due to illness. Others present were: Town Clerk, Christine Canestaro;
Deputy Town Clerk, Theresa Fortin; Highway Supt., Carl Eaton; Water & Sewer
Dept. Supt, Fred Walker; Zoning Enforcement Officer, Don Fowler; Bookkeeper,
Wayne Ezick; Legislators, Shirley Fish, Delmar Palm & Henry Wadsworth; County
Planner, Ted Zollendeck; County Treas., Walter Spencer, Jr.; Legislator,
John Morgan, Chairman of the County Transportation Committee; Mrs. Barbara
Crouch, Assistant Mgr. of the County Airport; Mr. Chas E. Homeyer of R.H.
Laberge Co., Albany, N.Y.; and several residents of the town.
The Town Clerk read the minutes of the previous meeting. Motion Amend min.
® was made by Justice Eaton, seconded by Councilman Miller that paragraph of 6/16/76
page 2 of the minutes be amended to read "that written notices would
be sent to adjoining property owners as a matter of courtesy11 and that
the minutes be accepted as amended. Votes: Justice Eaton, aye; Justice
Fish,aye; Councilman Miller, aye; Supervisor Blatchley, aye. Motion carried.
The Town Clerk read a letter received from Ted. C. Jarrett, Executive Letter
Director, Chamber of Commerce, Chicopee, Mass. regarding Miss Sharon Laker re:Sharon
of Chicopee who, as her contribution to the Bicentennial was riding her Laker of
horse "Commanche" from Chicopee to Fenton, Michigan over the "covered wagon Chicopee
trail. He stated that when she passed through the community, any courtesies Mass.
extended to her would be appreciated. Motion made by Justice Eaton, seconded
by Justice Fish that the letter be recevved and filed. Votes: Justice
Eaton, aye; Justice Fish, aye; Councilman Miller, aye; Supervisor Blatchley,
aye. Motion carried.
The Town Clerk read a letter received from G. B. Gifford, Director of Letter
Community Relations, S.C.M. Corp. stating that "Smith -Corona Operations from S.C.M.
does endorse the expansion of the present facilities of Cortland County re airport
airport, Chase Field. The plans to accommodate larger planes would be
beneficial to the Cortland area Motion was made by Councilman Miller,
seconded by Justice Eaton to receive and file the letter. Votes: Justice
Eaton, aye; Justice Fish, aye; Councilman Miller, aye; Supervisor Blatchley,
aye. Motion carried.
Mrs. Canestaro apprised the Board that Mr. John Fauth of 1 Louise St.
had complained of an excessive water bill for the quarter ended 3/30/76.
Fred Walker was asked to check the meter and on 6/21/76 installed a new
meter as the old meter had stalled. In view of the fact that the meter
was not operating properly and that his prior bills were not as high, Mr.
Fauth asked that an adjustment be made.
Motion was made by Councilman Miller, seconded by Justice Fish that Authorizatic
Mr. Fauths bill for quarter ended 3/30/76 be adjusted to reflect the same to adjust
consumption as the same period last year and that his account be credited billing of
accordingly. Votes: -Justice Eaton, aye; Justice Fish, aye; Councilman John Fauth
Miller, aye; Supervisor Blatchley, aye. Motion carried. 1 Louise St.
Mrs. Canestaro asked the Town Board if the price of the new supply
of the Town Zoning Ordinance should be increased as the $2.00 now charged
would not cover the cost of the new supply. The new ordinances cost
$175.00 for printing and 15.00 for covers, a total of $190.00.
® RESOLUTION #76: AUTHORIZATION TO INCREASE PRICE OF TOWN ZONING ORDINANCE BOOKS
Motion by Justice Eaton, seconded by Councilman Miller.
Votes: Justice Eaton, aye; Justice Fish, aye; Councilman Miller, aye;
Supervisor Blatchley, aye. Adopted.
BE IT RESOLVED, That the price of the newly printed Town --of Cortlandville
Zoning Ordinance Books be increased from $2.00 to $2.50 to cover cost
of same.
Zoning Enforcement Officer, Don Fowler gave his report for the month
of June. A copy of the report is attached to and made a part of these minutes.
Wednesday, July 7, 1976
pg. 2
Supervisor Blatchley gave his report on the financl status of
the town as of 6/30/76 as follows:
Financial General Fund Balance
$ 107,519.62
report for Federal Revenue Sharing Fund
Balance.
34,963.17
June Water District #1 Balance
98,839.69
Water District #2 Balance
1,257.03
Water District #3 Balance
5,276.57
Sewer District #1 Balance
36,706.04
Highway Fund Balance
145,321.49
Comprised of:
Repairs & Improve.
$71,593.91
Bridges
12,415.53
Machinery
29,210.77
Snow Removal & Misc.
329-101.28
3o.Cortl.Water Supervisor Blatchley reported that he had spent a considerable
& Terrace amount of time working on the South Cortland Water problem and that
Rd.i%ewers. he was trying to obtain funds for that project and also for the
proposed Terrace Rd. sewer project.
Supervisor Blatchley reported that the Town of Cortlandville
"Festival '76" held at Little York Park was a great success and
commended Mr. & Mrs. Ray Ingraham and the committee for a job well done.
Nat'l Grange
Supervisor Blatchley apprised the Board that Mr. Warren Barth had
ins.
contacted him on July 4th and advised him that National Grange could
Coverage
and would continue the $1,000,000 coverage as in the past. Mr. Barth
therefore renewed the policy with that company as of 7/1/76.
Letter
Supervisor Blatchley read a letter he had received from James C.
From J.
Hanchett of Isabel Dr. regarding his previous request for funds for
Hanchett
the City Youth & Recreation Basketball League, so that young people
re: City
in the town of Cortlandville could play without having to pay a
3asketball
premium and asked that the Board again consider the matter. Upon
League &
motion of Justice Eaton, seconded by Councilman Miller, the letter was
request for
ordered received and filed. Votes: Justice Eaton, aye; Justice Fish,aye;
funds.
Councilman Miller, aye; Supervisor Blatchley, aye°. Motion carried.
In regards to the above request, Justice Fish reported he had
Report
talked with Mr. Tokar who advised him that the fee for players outside
from Justice
the city had been raised from $5.00 to $10.00 per man and that those
Fish re
residing in the City were.paying $5.00 per man. Also, he was advised
silty
that no one was refusetcbparticipation in the league if they paid the
League
$10.00 fee. Most of mone he was told was y, going for operating costs of
the games, not for upkeep of the parks.
After some discussion, Jim Hanchett stated; itwas too late to do
anything about it this year as the leagues had already started and
asked that some consideration be given to this need in next year's
budget. The matter was truned over to the town's ad hoc committee
on recreation for further study.
Airport
Regarding the proposed expansion of the airport, Legislator, John
Morgan, Chairman of the Transportation Committee, informed the Board
that his committee has made no decision, as yet, regarding the project
and that he did not know when the matter would go before the legislature.
Mrs. Barbara Crouch, Assistant Mgr. of the Airport stressed the need
Airport
for the safety factor of the expansion program. She reported there were
five fixed base operators using the airport during the past year and that
they had done over one and a quarter million dollars worth of business
during that time. The sales taxes realized from these operations amounted
to approximately $56,000 she said. Also, she said, there is a total of
13 people earning a living from this field with a total gross income per
year of $167,000.,
Legislator, Shirley Fish stated that when she was a member of the
Airport
Transportation Committee, she specifically asked if the field was unsafe
and was told, by a pilot, that it was safe, and that the wind and fog
were the only unsafe factors. When these conditions existed, pilots
simply did not fly, she was told.
Airport
Mrs. Crouch replied that the two accidents recorded at the airport
in the past five years had been due to crosswinds.
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Wednesday, July 7, 1976
Pg.3
Justice Fish referred to a report which showed a local government
expenditure of over $325,000 which was not being subsidized by Federal
or State funds, $224,000 of which was for hanger space only.
Legislator Del Palm asked what the businesses located at the airport
facilities were paying for the use of those facilities. Mr. Spencer,
County Treasurer advised that the County had a lease with United Food
at $100 per mo., and that space is rented to a mechanic for the
operation of his shop.,at a fee of $90.00 per mo. The field, he said,
is a public field and that the fixed base operators have a right to
use the field for a fixed base operation at no charge. The only charge
to these fixed base operators is for hangering their planes.
Justice Eaton pointed out that he had attended a meeting of the
Airport committee and it was brought out that the hangers had been built
® at a cost of $8,000 - $10,000 per space and that they were being rented
at $40.00 per mo. which, he felt, would not pay the interest on the
investment.
Mr. Spencer said he has recommended an increase in the fee charged
for hanger space to $63.26 per plane per mo. His figure, he said, was
based on cost figures of $8,000 per hanger space, amortized over a 15
year period at 6% interest. Another alternative, he said, was to lease
the. land to a private developer for $1.00, have him build the hangers
and lease the spaces to airplane owners for a stated period of time.
At the end of that time the developer would have his investment back and
title would revert back to the county.
James Swinehart, a resident of Cortlandville stated he had studied
the report and found that a"lot of hidden costs had been overlooked. He
;said that the base operated businesses were not paying county and town
taxes neither directly, nor indirectly as they did not own the land nor
did they rent the land from a private landowner. Also, he said, the
report did not take into consideration the loss of taxes to both the
town and county due to the condemnation of property. They did not consider
the devaluation of other properties which would suffer because of loss
of trees; nor did they consider properties in the area which would no
longer be suitable for residential development, causing a decrease in land
values in that entire area, not just.the 18 houses and 3 or 4 dwellings
that are going to be-condemmned.Ill'The report overstates what will probably
be the general aviation traffic over the next 10 years." "The report; he
said, "stated that ,general -aviation had been on the decline since 1969-70".
Mr. Swinehart felt that the decline was going'to continue as petroleum prices
were going up and perhaps rationed in the next 10-15 yrs. Also he said,
"the cost of construction has been understated" and he feels that the cost
to the county will be well over the million and one half dollars estimated.
Mr. Ted Zollendeck( County Planner reported that at the 6/28 meeting
the Town Board had raised the question "what will the tax impact be?". The
planned expansion, he said would create a loss of $704.45 based on $4.90
per thousand town tax, fire tax $874.14 per yr., county tax loss $1,583.74
based on $9.24 per thousand, school. tax loss $3,789.00 based on $22.00 per
thousand. Local real estate people, he said, told him that the planned
expansion would not devaluate the properties in the area. He said there
were good arguments both pro and con. He recommended planning for the
future as to whether or not general aviation was going to increase. "As for
gasoline allocations, he said,"the priority system is higher for general
® aviation than cars , based on information from Trans Plan, Inc. consultants".
The noise study done by the consultants showed no impact in terms of the
environment around the area',' he said. Mr. Zollendeck recommended "in terms
of long ;range planning, we should try to accommodate the safety improvements
of the airport". He stressed the fact that the airport was for general
aviation and not commercial and that the proposed improvements were for the
safety factor only.
Legislator, Shirley Fish asked Mr. Zollendeck if the safety feature was
what he was basing his recommendation on and Mr. Zollendeck replied "yes,
primarily, for a twenty year period, until 1995". Mrs. Fish then asked what
acerage was involved in the tax figures he presented earlier. Mr. Zollendeck
said they included the.drive-in theatre and three other properties. She asked
if the properties on Luker Rd. had been considered since that was going to
be a part of the runway. She said her figures showed the total acerage to be
taken over was 47 acres.
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Mr. Swinehart stated "the 4 or 5 real estate people I have talked
to told me that, very definitely, property values will decrease with the
airport advent of the north -south runway". As to allocation of gas he said,`
"during the last energy crisis, which took place in the fall and winter
of '73, congressional committees were seriously talking. of strictly
banning both pleasure flying and pleasure boating."
Supervisor Blatchley commented that he"has not .seen any real
concrete figures .that the.improvement would benefit industry and the
airport business of the area". . "If I could see concrete figures where the
airport will add so much business to the economy of the county, I think
it would change our opinions in a hurry".
Legislator, Del Palm said "in the study which has been done by the
airport committee, one of the questions raised was "would you use the airport
more in terms of industry? There were responses they would but these
responses were very vague". Another question asked was would this increase
employment in the area? The answer in every instance was "no
airport Justice Fish stated "at the meeting with the town board and the airport
committee, no one there could answer Mr. Eatons question "Why do we need it?".
Mr. Irving Perry, an aviator who uses the field stated that one of the
factors used to pursuade businesses to locate here was the fact that there
airport
was an airport here which could be used for charter, emergencies, breakdowns,
etc. "It is never going to be a big airport and shouldn't be", he said, "but
it could be a little safer':
So.Cort.
Mr. Mel Pierce"of South Cortland, reported he had circulated questionaires
Water
to most of the South Cortland residents regarding whether or not they wanted
a water district created and the results were favorable he said. He gave
these questionaires to the Supervisor. S.C.M., he said, was in favor of the
district but had not given a definite answer, pending consultation with
their legal advisors. Mr. Pierce was advised that a legal petition, signed
by these people, is necessary before the district can be formed. Also the
district has to be approved by the Dept. of Audit & Control and D.E.C..
So.Cort.
Mr. Spencer advised that there was a public works bill through which
Water
100% funding could be obtained for projects such as water for South Cortland.
However, he said, these projects must be ready to go to bid within 90 days.
So.Cort.
Supervisor Blatchley advised that he was aware of this bill and had
Water
contacted Congressman Hanley's office and has written, at Mr. Hanley's aid's
suggestion,to the Dept. of Commerce in Washington and asked to have the Town
of Cortlandville given a high priority.
So.Cort.
Mr. Spencer stressed that all paper work possible should be accomplished
Water
so that the project could be put out to bid within the 90 day period, in the
event the Town's application was accepted.
So.Cort.
Mr. Moore, who is in charge of the present water system in South Cortland,
Water
asked if the people in the area could be given some assurance that they will
have water in the event the water system is shut off by the Health Dept. Mr.
Blatchley assured him that the Health Dept. would not shut the water off as
long as they are sure some other system is being contemplated in the near
future.
R.H.Laberge Mr. Charles E. Homeyer, Project Mgr. of Ronald H. Laberge Consulting
Recreation Civil Engineers & Municipal Planners of Albany, N.Y. made a presentation on
Facilities recreation facilities and developments designed b
Presentation P g y his firm and which were
constructed through Federal & State funding programs which his firm had been
successful in obtaining for other municipalities. He left a written
presentation for the Board to study & review.
RESOLUTION #77: AUTHORIZATION TO PAY AUDITED BILLS
Motion by Councilman Miller, seconded by Justice Eaton.
Votes; Justice Eaton, aye; Justice Fish, aye; Councilman Miller, aye;
Supervisor Blatchley, aye. Adopted
BE IT RESOLVED, That audited bills be paid as follows:
General Fund Claims #229-297 $ 8,369.36
Water Dist.l Claims #74-89 2,327.77
Water Dist.2 Claims #4 285.80
Water Dist.3 Claims #4 & 5 283.98
Sewer Dist.l Claim #8 20.00
Highway Fund Claims #134-167 16 0 6. 6
TOTAL $27,343.87
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Wednesday, July 7, 1976
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RESOLUTION #78: AUTHORIZATION TO PAY ECONOMY PAVING CO., INC. BILL
Motion by Justice Eaton, seconded by Justice Fish
Votes: Justice Eaton, aye; Justice Fish, aye; Councilman Miller, aye;
Supervisor Blatchley, aye. Adopted.
WHEREAS, construction of the parking lot and driveway has been
completed per specifications set forth in the"information
to bidders",
NOW THEREFORE
BE IT RESOLVED, That the bill submitted by Economy Paving Co., Inc.
in the amount of $5,650.25 be paid.
® RESOLUTION #79: AUTHORIZATION FOR JUSTICE EATON TO ATTEND SUMMER TRAINING
PROGRAM AT ST. LAWRENCE UNIVERSITY
MOTION:by Councilman Miller, seconded by Justice Fish
Votes: Justice Eaton, aye; Justice Fish, aye; Councilman Miller, aye;
Supervisor Blatchley, aye. Adopted.
BE IT RESOLVED, That Justice Donald Eaton be, and he hereby is
authorized to attend the State of New York Office of Court
Administration summer training program at St. Lawrence
University, Canton, N.Y. July 18-23, and
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED; That he be reimbursed for all necessary
expenses incurred regarding same, subject to audit by the
Town Board.
There being no further business, upon motion of Councilman Miller,
seconded by Justice Fish, all voting aye, the meeting was adjourned at
9:42 p.m..
Respectfully Subm1 ted
CHRISTINE CA TARO
TOWN CLERK
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